Advocacy officer jobs

Team: Advocacy 

Location: Remote with regular travel. Approx. Once a month 

Work pattern: Monday-Friday, 35 hours per week. Flexible working options available 

Salary: Up to £38,918.33 per year 

Contract: Fixed-term contract until 30th April 2027 

We are the UK’s largest cat welfare charity. All over the country, our passionate employees, volunteers and supporters are using their kindness and expertise to make life better for millions of cats and the people who care for them. 

Will you join us and make life better for cats? 

Responsibilities of our Advocacy & Government Relations Officer - Westminster: 

- Support engagement with MPs, Government departments and key external stakeholders to influence policy and advocacy outcomes 

- Monitor parliamentary activity, legislation and policy developments, identifying risks and opportunities affecting cat welfare 

- Draft briefings, consultation responses, position statements and advocacy materials to support campaigning objectives 

- Conduct research and evidence gathering to inform policy development and charity campaigns 

- Develop strategic messaging and responses to legislative, regulatory and reputational issues 

- Coordinate and deliver Westminster-based events and stakeholder engagement activities 

- Work closely with teams such as Media, Digital and Web to maximise campaign impact 

- Build collaborative relationships across the sector to advance shared advocacy priorities and charity goals 

About the Advocacy team: 

The Advocacy & Government Relations team leads the charity in influencing decision-makers and those whose policies, practices and decisions affect cat welfare across the UK. The small, highly motivated team works to influence legislators (national and devolved governments), professional organisations and corporates. The team has successfully influenced the law on microchipping, pet theft and commercial kitten sales in England and worked with the Scottish Government to regulate cat breeding and rehoming activities. The team also runs digital campaigns as part of its strategy. 

What we’re looking for in our Advocacy & Government Relations Officer - Westminster: 

- Experience of advocacy, public affairs or influencing work, ideally in Westminster

- Experience of policy work and research

- Experience of dealing with high profile/ VIP individuals e.g. Ministers, MPs, MSPs, MLAs, MPs, Government Officials, Local Councillors and officers, etc. 

- Proven ability to multi-task and work independently on own initiative, accurately and under pressure

- Experience of effective use of social media and the internet in an advocacy/campaign context

- A confident communicator with good written and oral skills; and great people skills

- Excellent organisational skills with the ability to be flexible and adaptable

- A passion for cats and cat welfare 

What we can offer you: 

- 26 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing with service

- A competitive contributory pension scheme and life assurance for peace of mind 

- Health and wellbeing support to help you stay well while working remotely 

- Flexible working options to support a healthy work–life balance

- Ongoing learning and development to help you build your skills and grow your career

- Financial wellbeing support, including access to Salary Finance

- Access to discounted pet insurance to help care for your pet’s health

Learn more about our full reward package

Application closing date: 5th August 2026 

Virtual interview date: 20th & 21st August 2026 

Applications may close before the deadline, so please apply early to avoid disappointment. 

We are seeking an exceptional advocate with a policy, legal or related digital rights campaigning background to work with us furthering privacy and civil liberties in the UK at one of the UK’s leading rights NGOs. Initially, this role will be principally challenging facial recognition surveillance and scrutinising police surveillance/AI powers.

The right Senior Advocacy Officer will help us to lobby UK Parliament to further privacy and wider rights at a critical time – when a legal framework on police use of facial recognition is very soon to be introduced, and police are expanding their use of AI and new surveillance technologies. You’ll build on your strong experience to be a credible and proactive lobbyist in Parliament, write expert briefings and be confident meeting parliamentarians, take a leading role liaising with policy stakeholders, advise on strategic litigation, be a leading advocate in the press and the public forum, develop policy positions on key issues, and help drive our public campaigns for change.

About you

You’ll have 3+ years experience in a legal or policy capacity, or in a comparable advocacy environment that relied on your expertise on technology and rights issues – ideally involving facial recognition. You’ll have a strong track record of advocacy success.

You’ll be familiar with key litigation and policy issues in the area. You’ll also have excellent knowledge of British politics and UK parliamentary procedures and strong political contacts to match.

You’ll be at ease working on a strictly non-partisan, cross-party basis and grounding policy analysis in human rights and liberal principles.

You’ll be proactive in pitching policy, litigation and campaign ideas for the organisation to pursue within our work streams.

You’ll be an experienced spokesperson, confident undertaking live and recorded TV and radio interviews, talking to a variety of audiences and representing the organisation and our campaigns.

If you’re committed to Big Brother Watch’s mission, we’d like to hear from you.

Senior Advocacy Officer job description

Policy

• Produce policy analysis, research, briefings and reports for dissemination

• Develop strategic policy recommendations informed by expertise

• Identify and explore new and emerging policy issues in our key work areas

• Communicate complex policy issues to varied audiences, whether Parliament, the press or the public

• Build strong relationships with parliamentarians and advisors across all parties

• Identify opportunities to further our strategic aims in Parliament, through committees, parliamentary questions and other activities; as well as regional assemblies and on occasion local government

• Work with stakeholders and pursue collaborative campaigns/coalitions on key issues

• Develop Big Brother Watch’s relationships with allies across Government, legislative bodies, international organisations, and NGOs

• Draft formal correspondence, blog posts, presentations, and other documents articulating Big Brother Watch’s policy positions

Advocacy

• Identify campaigns and advocacy opportunities, and feed into campaign plans and materials

• Write articles and give quotes to press

• Give pre-recorded and live interviews for TV and radio

• Uphold Big Brother Watch’s reputational excellence in public fora

• Help manage media enquiries (our 24/7 media phone is handled on a staff rota system)

Legal

• Help co-ordinate Big Brother Watch’s strategic litigation where appropriate, liaising with external lawyers

• Manage relationships with external counsel & build strong relationships with partners

• Produce legal and policy analysis and identify strategic litigation opportunities

Person specification

Essential

• Min. 3+ years experience in a similar role

• Familiarity/expertise with domestic policy matters relating to privacy, surveillance and/or free expression

• Strong legal and/or policy research skills

• Excellent and persuasive communications skills

• Demonstrable experience in privacy, freedom of expression, and other rights and technology areas

• Aptitude for managing and building relationships with partner organisations, parliamentarians and other stakeholders

• Proven ability to produce high quality work under pressure

• Creativity and energy in approaching a workload consisting of large long-term projects

• Willingness to work in non-partisan environment, and ability to recruit support of MPs across all parties

Desirable

• A track record of successful advocacy experience

• Experience of involvement in litigation, either in a legal or campaigns capacity

• Experience working with parliamentarians and/or producing policy briefings

• Project management experience

• Familiarity with relevant UK surveillance laws, human rights frameworks, and relevant case law

Big Brother Watch

Big Brother Watch is a UK civil liberties campaign group fighting for a free future. We’re determined to reclaim our privacy and defend freedoms at this time of enormous technological change. And we fight to win.

We’re a fiercely independent, diverse, non-partisan and non-profit group of campaigners and researchers who work to roll back the surveillance state and protect rights in Parliament, the media or the courts if we have to. We publish unique investigations and pursue powerful public campaigns to pursue real change. We work relentlessly to inform and empower the public to collectively reclaim privacy, defend our civil liberties and protect freedoms for the future.

We’re a small, dedicated and highly effective team of 8 staff and 7 volunteers.